FE Report
Chairman and founder of the Topsøe company in Denmark, Dr. Haldor Topsøe, aged 98, arrived in Dhaka on Sunday, on a five-day visit to Bangladesh until September 15, 2011. During his visit, he will lay the foundation stone for UTSHO’s new school campus for underprivileged children at Sreepur, Gazipur.
Dr. Topsøe has offered to develop the facilities on about six bighas of land which UTSHO received as a donation. The first phase, costing in excess of $ 1.0 million, will comprise a dormitory, dining and health care buildings, classrooms, etc. The second phase, costing an additional US$ 400,000, comprises another dormitory, an auditorium, etc.
The School plans to cater for 260 pupils of which 160 will be boarding pupils, by the end of the two phases.
The UTSHO runs three schools for underprivileged children – in Badda and Rayerbazar, Dhaka, and in Sreepur, Gazipur. The students in these schools, ranging from age three to 14 years, are children of single mothers or parents who are unable to care for their children. At these schools, the children are provided a loving home and healthcare, education, sports, etc. Currently, in the three schools, there are 194 pupils, of whom 89 are boarding.
Dr. Topsøe’s firm, which bears his name, was established in 1940, and has become the market leader in the field of catalysts, for the refining industry, for cleaning power industry flue gases and for sustainable energy processes.
Dr. Haldor Topsøe and his company have been deeply involved in the Bangladeshi fertiliser industry for more than 40 years through sales of technology and catalysts. Today, many fertiliser plants in Bangladesh use Topsøe catalysts and the two most recent fertiliser plants in Bangladesh, Jamuna Fertilizer Company Ltd. and Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Ltd (KAFCO) are both based on Topsøe technology.
Together with the Government of Bangladesh, Topsøe is also the original promoter of KAFCO. The Board of Investment (BoI) selected KAFCO as a “Model Success Story” for Private Public Partnership (PPP) and foreign investment in Bangladesh, and brought out a publication on this company and its contribution to the agriculture and economy.
Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=149210&date=2011-09-12